Warning

This tutorial is only for advanced users and has a serious risk of bricking the console. Make sure you read it completely before executing any step and that you understand every step and its implications. With de_Fuse everything should be unbrickable if you know how.

You should at least have a backup of SLC and SLCCMPT, as we can’t rebuild them at the moment. (can be done in minute_minute, so there is no excuse). We had two cases where the SLC corrupted for an unknown reason, so a backup is essential.

What is this for?

This tutorial goes into rebuilding the MLC from scratch on a clean media. This can become useful, if

• the MLC (eMMC) chip died or corrupted the filesystem
• the SCFM (SLC cache for MLC) became inconsistent
• you want to upgrade the capacity of the internal storage.
• you want to set up a redNAND without SCFM

If you have a bad eMMC chip, but the recovery still works (which is most likely), then there are also ways to fix it without a complete reformat.
If the LED is blinking blue, you have a SLC problem and not a MLC problem, so this tutorial won't help with that.

It will format your MLC, so all data on the internal Wii U memory will be lost.

Update

13.03.2024 - The wafel_setup_mlc.ipx now uses a built in IOSU function to create system folders, that should make sure the permissions are right, which caused problems with game updates in the past. It will also recreate the update folder (so system updates won't be blocked by that)

Prerequisites

• Have either ISFShax installed: https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-set-up-isfshax.642258/#post-10280366
  OR de_Fuse 0.7.1 (or later): https://github.com/shinyquagsire23/wii_u_modchip/releases
  Defuse requires some soldering, so ISFShax is probably right for you (if you can still launch the installer).
• A 5.5.x firmware is expected and the only configuration tested. It might work on older firmwares or might be adoptable to those, but it will require special care.

Backing up save games

Do a backup of what you want to preserve, like savegames and Miis.
For Backing up Save games, it is recommended to use SaveMii. That requires that you have Tiramisu or Aroma running.
You can also move your savgames (or whole games) to USB, which should still be readable. When recreating the users after the rebuild, you just have to be carefull to create the users in the right order, to make the ID’s match. A backup by other means (Like savemii) is still recommended.
If you are using this tutorial to fix a failing eMMC you might not be able to use the other Backup options. In that case use the Dump MLC option in the Recovery. You can extract your data from there using wfs-extract.

Storage Options

The Wii U has two ways of connecting internal memory, each with its own drawbacks:

• SDIO – On retail consoles the internal memory is a eMMC chip connected through an internal SDIO bus to the Latte chip. This SDIO bus can also use SD cards (hence the name SD IO). Access to media connected on the SDIO is cached through a file on the SLC, presumably to reduce writes on the MLC. This cache is called SCFM and it is the reason why you always need to backup / restore SLC and MLC together and doesn’t allow easy swapping of multiple SDs.
  IOSU also only supports 3 sizes of media on this bus: <=8GB, 32GB and 64GB. The size will be limited to the biggest it fits, the rest is unusable. This bus is limited to 26MB/s (4bit@52Mhz). For replacing the eMMC with an micro SD you can use MLC2SD or a similar Interposer. Soldering and micro SD adapter using wires, works too.
  It is recommended to use a 64GB Sandisk Max Endurance card (But similar card should also be fine), since the Wii U is known for writing much.
  
  
• SATA – The Disc drive is connected through SATA, the connectors are different but the electrical signals are still the same. Some Kiosk consoles used this Interface to connect to a HDD. The type of the SATA device can be configured in the SEEPROM, so we can configure our retail consoles to also use a SATA HDD / SSD.
  NOTE: @QuarkTheAwesome is building an SATA adapter for that purpose, available soon™.
  
  The advantage of using this interface is, that the size isn’t limited (well WFS is limited to 2TB) and it doesn’t use SCFM, which makes some things easier and improves performance in some circumstances. The obvious disadvantage is that you can’t use your disc drive anymore. Without the Disc Drive vWii System Menu doesn't work. vWii Injectes / Wii VC from the eShop can still be used, but only when installed to USB. Also you still might need to disable the MLC on the SDIO bus, or else the wii u might still use the SDIO one if the SATA device takes too long to init.
  
  
• redNAND – redirects the read / writes to one or more of the internal storage devices to paritions on the SD card. You can create an arbitrary size MLC partition on the SD card and set it up using this tutorial. SCFM can be easily disabled for the redNAND. The 64GB limit does not exist for redNAND if the SCFM is disabled. For redNAND we have a dedicated Tutorial here: https://gbatemp.net/threads/fixing-...-soldering-using-rednand-with-isfshax.642268/

Does that mean we can’t get more than 64GB on the SDIO bus? No, BUT it requires ISFShax / defuse to boot the console every time. @GaryOderNichts created a patch to remove the limits and always use the maximum size of the SDIO media and it also disables SCFM, because SCFM doesn’t work with more than 64GB and disabling SCFM improves performance and reduces wear on the SLC, at the cost of increasing wear of the MLC media. I packaged this patch in wafel_unlimit_mlc.

Rebuilding the MLC

Now that you decided what media you want to use as MLC, we can start with the actual process:

1. Download all the mlc system titles for your region from NUS. This can be done conveniently with MLCRestorerDownloader by @Xpl0itU. Copy the otp.bin from the SD to the folder with the MLCRestorer Downloader so it can get the common key from there.
   
   You will get the output/MLC/{region} directory, which then contains a directory for each title. In total there should be 52 titles totaling ~1.1GiB.
   
   If your console has an old firmware it might also be necessary to get the latest SLC titles.
   
   
2. On the root of your SD card (the one that will go in the front slot, not the MLC replacement) create a folder wafel_install. Then copy all 52 titles to the wafel_install folder, so it now contains the 52 subfolders, one for each title. If you want to reinstall / update SLC titles, you would also put them there.
   
   
3. Attach your MLC media of choice. (If you are using SATA got to Backup and Restore, then at Set SATA Device in SEEPROM select GEN2-HDD (Kiosk CAT-I with HDD)).
   For installing MLC2SD look here: https://gbatemp.net/threads/using-n...emmc-fix-160-0103-system-memory-error.636361/ at the Soldering section.
   
   
4. If you install to eMMC / MLC2SD, got to Backup and Restore and select Erase MLC and Delete scfm.img. If the Erase MLC fails, you can ignore that if it wasn't formatted as MLC before (from a failed install or so).
   
   
5. Put the wafel_setup_mlc.ipx on the SD card in /wiiu/ios_plugins. If you want more than 64GB on SDIO you also need to put the wafel_unlimit_mlc.ipx there. If you install with wafel_unlimit_mlc.ipx, it will be permanently required and therefore also permanently requires ISFShax or defuse.
   
   
6. [Optional, only when using defuse] Open the serial monitor on the PC (Putty / minicom) for defuse to see the setup progress. There will be no display output in the Wii U itself. I attached the whole serial log of a successfull install as a reference.
   
   
7. Select Patch (sd) and boot IOS (slc) in minute to start the setup of your fresh MLC.During the setup you won't see anything on the screen. You have to go by the power led.
   The power LED will flash blue, while it is installing the titles.
   if something goes wrong the LED will turn orange, but it will continue as long as it is blinking.
   The LED will become static once it finished. You can now power off the console.
   If the led is blinking red, something fatal happend. Ask for help.
   During the setup a short log gets written to the SD: wafel_setup_mlc.log.
   In the end it will enable the initial setup on the next boot.
   
   
8. Remove the wafel_setup_mlc.ipx from /wiiu/ios_plugins on the SD.
   
   
9. Boot the console. Patch (sd) and boot IOS (slc)
   
   
10. If everything worked, the initial setup should launch.

ISFShax only: Finalizing

If you are using the wafel_unlimit_mlc.ipx you need to keep ISFShax installed. If you haven't done already complete the "Booting without SD" step form the ISFShax tutorial but also add the wafel_unlimit_mlc.ipx renamed to 9unlimit.ipx to the /storage_slc/sys/hax/ios_plugins directory.
If you are not using the wafel_unlimit_mlc.ipx you can either uninstall ISFShax or keep it as a brick protection. If you keep it complete the "Booting without SD" step form the ISFShax tutorial.
The Wii U should now boot automatically if you don't have an SD in.
You probably also want to enable the autobooting now.

See Also

https://gbatemp.net/threads/wii-u-internal-storage-upgrades-are-possible.635629/

Pictures

512 GB SD card:

@QuarkTheAwesome 120 GB SSD:

Thanks

• @GaryOderNichts for IOSU patches and code I took from the recovery
• @shinyquagsire23 for defuse, minute and stroopwafel
• @QuarkTheAwesome for IOSU format patch and SATA Adapter
• @V10lator for implementing Quota support and some improvements
• @Xpl0itU for MLCRestorerDownloader
• @Lazr1026 for testing and some fixes

 

[Tuner357]

It worked!!!!! 64gb Wii u Y'all are amazing

 

[Ysecond]

and you don't run into problems with scfm.

Could you please introduce the problems of scfm，when i used a SD smaller than 64GB ?
I have tried 8G and 32G, they work very well.

 

[SDIO]

In some cases it wil not format if the sd is the same size, as scfm might hold enough information to make IOSU think, it already has a good file system. Then you need to use the destroy_mlc.ipx

 

[Tuner357]

Would this be another way that we can change the region on a console? I have a white 32gb jap console I'd love to do this with

 

[Lazr1026]

Would this be another way that we can change the region on a console? I have a white 32gb jap console I'd love to do this with

yes, but you will have to manually fix the region in the sys_prod.xml with either recovery_menu or wupserver

 

[Tuner357]

yes, but you will have to manually fix the region in the sys_prod.xml with either recovery_menu or wupserver

Makes sense. Might have to try this out! I still have the Japanese gamepad, but I think i saw you can connect it in some dev menu or something and use it like normal

 

[V10lator]

some dev menu or something

Why are people still risking to brick their consoles with this tool?
https://github.com/wiiu-env/drc_region_free_plugin is the way to go. No need to keep that plugin after pairing the gamepad.

 

[Tuner357]

Why are people still risking to brick their consoles with this tool?
https://github.com/wiiu-env/drc_region_free_plugin is the way to go. No need to keep that plugin after pairing the gamepad.

Was more of a question than a statement honestly, haven't used it yet! Thank's for pointing that out though, I will definitely check out that plugin. Just got this Japanese Wii u back up and running so not trying to brick it lol

 

[Tuner357]

Hey! im back haha, but this time im trying to do a japanese console.

I wired up de fuse, tested all my connections and everything seems to be fine, everything on my sd card is correct as its litterally the same one i used last time, with nothing changed since doing my other console which was a us/canada console.

i plug it in, open putty, everything seems to be fine but it doesnt load the minute menu and light stays red. any ideas?

 

[SDIO]

Don't connect the picos 3V3 to the Wii 3V3. Does the Wii U still turn on, if you don't connect the pico to the pc?

 

[Tuner357]

Don't connect the picos 3V3 to the Wii 3V3. Does the Wii U still turn on, if you don't connect the pico to the pc?

so without the pico plugged into the pc, the light on the wii u flashes blue.
still want me to disconnect 3.3?

 

[SDIO]

No disconnect 3V3, as it might be messing with the Wii Us own power supply, when you connect the pico to the PC. And then connect the pico to the pc again and see what happens.

 

[Tuner357]

No disconnect 3V3, as it might be messing with the Wii Us own power supply, when you connect the pico to the PC. And then connect the pico to the pc again and see what happens.

Alright! So disconnected 3v3, without pico plugged into the computer, console turns on.
Pico plugged in to pc, 3v3 still not hooked up, red light still solid, but putty spits out similar txt.

I did notice before i disconnected 3v3, with the console not plugged in, but pico still connected to the computer, it lit the wii u's light red. must be backfeeding from usb

This is also the newer revision of wii u motherboard, dunno if that matters

I also have a spare power supply if you want me to try that

 

[SDIO]

What do you see in putty? Maybe check if you really wired up the pico correctly

 

[Tuner357]

What do you see in putty? Maybe check if you really wired up the pico correctly

thats what putty says. ill triple check my work also. from what i see, it says my exi clk line isnt connected? but it is lol. gp14 to tp1001. buzzed it with the multimeter and its confirmed connected to gp14

 

[SDIO]

Shiny says:

yeah it's skipping stage 0x1E~0x21 so that's either missing EXI clk or they didn't bridge the pins for EXI dat
GPIO is all hooked up correctly

Did you connect all the GPIOS on the pico side together?

 

[shinyquagsire23]

thats what putty says. ill triple check my work also. from what i see, it says my exi clk line isnt connected? but it is lol. gp14 to tp1001. buzzed it with the multimeter and its confirmed connected to gp14

you'll want to see 0x1E ... 0x21 in the numbers before 0x25, so that's either EXI CLK is borked, or you didn't bridge the 4 pins correctly and it can't overcome the Wii U SoC's internal pull-up/down (forget which off the top of my head but it's very strong and the pin bridge is required)

Edit: also it looks like your GPIOs/nRST are fine, it's getting a successful glitch but it needs EXI so that it boots the payload from SD instead of vWii NAND

Edit 2: It's overcoming the pull-down, so the other possibility is that you're running the Pico IO at 1.8V instead of 3.3V somehow. That would also result in EXI failing.

 

[Tuner357]

you'll want to see 0x1E ... 0x21 in the numbers before 0x25, so that's either EXI CLK is borked, or you didn't bridge the 4 pins correctly and it can't overcome the Wii U SoC's internal pull-up/down (forget which off the top of my head but it's very strong and the pin bridge is required)

Edit: also it looks like your GPIOs/nRST are fine, it's getting a successful glitch but it needs EXI so that it boots the payload from SD instead of vWii NAND

Edit 2: It's overcoming the pull-down, so the other possibility is that you're running the Pico IO at 1.8V instead of 3.3V somehow. That would also result in EXI failing.

Alright cool, thanks for the confirmation on those connections. I double checked with a multimeter that it was 3v3, and it was correct. That last putty log was with 3v3 disconnected, and Pico plugged into the computer. Checked my ground it seems to be fine. I did use tp167 for ground, but I did that on my other de fuse I did with no issues.

Also should add, same Pico setup I desoldered off my other Wii u console

 

[SDIO]

also it looks like your GPIOs/nRST are fine, it's getting a successful glitch but it needs EXI so that it boots the payload from SD instead of vWii NAND

I he can still boot the recovery, we could install the boot1 to the vWii NAND that way and work around that way, can't we?

 

[Tuner357]

I he can still boot the recovery, we could install the boot1 to the vWii NAND that way and work around that way, can't we?

Shoot not to sure if I'll be able to boot into recovery as I have a Nand-aid installed, and I removed the resistors to the emmc cause they tend to move around when i solder the data points.

I could definitely try though. Would I disconnect 3v3 so it boots? Cause with 3v3 hooked up (soldered the wire back on to see if It would boot for shits) it just sits there with a solid red light unless I hold power while plugging it in